French Lilac

I love this perfume so much. I'm literally smiling, almost getting emotional from happiness from even just talking about this perfume. Lilacs are very ephemeral in real-life; they only bloom for a short period of time in the late spring. They have a clean, sweet, lightly powdery scents, one that is hard to describe without smelling it - maybe an aldehydic heliotrope (far from accurate, but trying to think of what would paint that picture). For me, Lilacs are the smell of my parent's garden; while I can't remember if we ever grew lilacs, every time I smell them it takes me back to the time of my life when I'd run around the grass in our front or back yard, help my dad garden, or have the both of us go to the gardening supply & flower nursery near my family home, and he'd let me pick out what flower I wanted, and what breed of Daisy we'd put in the garden this week. This perfume smells exactly like that; the distinct, photorealistic Lilac, but more importantly, nostalgia. Smells like if you think of Lilacs with rose-colored glasses (as this fragrance makes lilacs .01% sweeter than they actually are), and even more accurately, like nostalgia from a memory you can't pinpoint, but can feel. The smell is super relaxing, more relaxing than lavender for me, and honestly this what I wear to bed every night. I spray it all over my sheets and pillows, all over my pjs, just everything. I also use the body spray (which is a little less sweet and weaker than the perfume, and thus doesn't have that perfect nostalgia factor) and overall I go through a lot of this stuff. In terms of longevity and sillage, unfortunately I don't find this perfume to last very much at all, and its very very faint in the morning even on sheets and pillows. I would consider wearing this during the day if it lasted longer, but it fits perfectly as a perfume to relax me. Next time I go shopping I'm going to buy so many bottles of this so I can have it as long as possible. Overall, 10/10, best thing ever, totally worth the buy if you like lilacs or the smell of garden-y flowers. Doesn't last, but its hard to ever be made at a perfume as perfectly executed as this. **Also, I got the highland lilac lotion to layer this hopefully, but highland lilac is soapy-er and more 'cooling' and unfortunately did not hit the mark like this did ): **

This little perfume is a powerhouse, a gorgeous fragrance that belies its modest bottle and affordable price. Don't let its inexpensiveness fool you - this fragrance is far from cheap. It's a lilac lover's dream. If you love lilac as much as I do, I'm sure you've tried Aerin's Lilac Path. Pacifica's creation is just as beautiful, but far stronger in terms of longevity and projection. It is not a soft whisper of a scent - it's more like walking through a bunch of lilac bushes bursting with blossoms as an early summer breeze fills your nose with its intoxicating, heavy fragrance. This perfume is the real deal! It's hard to detect the other notes at first because the lilac is so strong, but I do notice ylang ylang and hyacinth in particular. The other notes don't really come through for me. All in all, I would recommend Pacifica French Lilac - however, you really have to like lilacs to enjoy this scent. I personally love being doused in what seems like pure lilac nectar, but if you're not 100% sold on the smell, this will definitely come across as an overbearing, heavy floral. I would use it very sparingly in an office environment or somewhere where you want just a subtle hint of a fragrance. If I spray it once in the air and walk through the mist, I find that it gives a nice light scent compared to spraying it directly on myself.

This is the most perfect lilac perfume. We’ve had a lilac tree in my yard since I was little, and I watched it bloom every year. Every year it would get bigger and the smell would get stronger. I love when it’s warm out and the sun is hitting me and there’s a slight warm wind that carries the scent over to me. It smells so beautiful and nostalgic and just reminds me that spring/summer are here. This perfume is exactly that feeling and scent bottled. It’s beautiful and it was a love at first sniff. It’s not as “warm” like you’re sitting in the sun, it’s more like you’re in the shade so it’s “cooler”. It makes me feel girly, like I’m wearing a flowey summer dress in meadow and I’m barefoot sitting under the shade of a tree. Like i’m making flower crowns or just listening to and watching the animals. It invokes a very peaceful and happy feeling in me. It’s fresh and light and airy and not too overpowering, and I only need a few sprays to have the scent bubble I like. It’s lovely and I’m really excited to wear it in the coming months. I’ve been on the hunt for a lilac fragrance that smells like my lilac tree, and I randomly found this at a Nature’s Emporium on a random week night like 10 minutes before closing. I feel like it found me. 💜

I'm slightly easier on less expensive perfumes, I totally admit. But I agree with the poster below, if this were more expensive or a gimmicky niche, people would stampede to get their hands on this beauty. This is absolutely, insanely good for the price. I almost can't comprehend it. This is about 95% accurately lilac. I find it completely delightful and wonderfully simple. I adore that perfumery and the art of fragrance can be as simple as this (or as complex as many masterpieces out there). It's roughly 90% lilac, but the power of suggestion is strong, and nectarine is noticable once I read the notes. It actually is there, just not strongly and it doesn't compete with lilac. I think there could be trace amounts other florals, so basically with heliotrope I said "noticeable" (as in, 'sure, why not?'). French Lilac is to real lilac, as Tea Rose is to real rose. Affordable, slightly nuclear (this less so than TR, but similar), and almost a one-note-wonder. Bravo Pacifica, you did well! 👏

My bottle of Pacifica FRENCH LILAC just came in. I have just returned from a Cape Cod springtime, where lilac trees bloom everywhere. I was absolutely enchanted by the smell, and never missed a week without plucking some of the light-purple bunches and bringing them indoors to scent my apartment. And yes, PFL is remarkably close to the scent of real lilacs! This perfume has a very slightly sweeter, fruitier edge than the real flower does, and it doesn't quite capture that poignant, dusky-husky, low-pitched, clover-like spiciness (foin coupé ?) lurking in the real flower, and the magnolia facet here bestows a delicate lemony/soapy tartness that's not present in the real bloom, but overall, PFL is darned close. I'm a guy and I am thrilled to wear this scent... it's dandyish to be sure, but not overly effeminate on a fella. I find PFL to be enchanting, mysterious, tender, quietly seductive, Victorian-retro, vernal. And it's very inexpensive. Highly recommended!

The absolute best budget-friendly Lilac soliflore!!! I literally douse myself in this stuff and don't feel guilty about it. Do I have other much more expensive, much more pretentious Lilac perfumes? Yes. Do I wear them as much as this or are they just as versatile? No. Lilac is my favorite floral note in perfume...but not just any lilac accord will do. It has to feel like a living lilac when I smell it, it has to transport me to the moment where I bury my face in a handful of blossoms just as they're coming into their full bloom, before any have turned brown or wilted. It has to feel fresh and wet without being soapy, it has to whisper with musk, it has to capture the ephemeral beauty of loving this flower. Pacifica French Lilac hit the nail on the head perfectly and keeps me from going broke. This fragrance is an utter gem, layers impeccably, holds her own, and lasts all day. It's my workhorse, ol' reliable, and one that I can't be without. 10/10...

Just received Pacifica's French Lilac. I had tried it many times when walking through a local health store and was intrigued by it. This perfume makes me smile. Probably because it takes me back to the house I grew up in, and a patch of Lilacs grew near Hyacinths in the backyard. Not far away were a patch of Lily of the Valley. I can still remember the crisp, fresh breeze on early spring mornings when I would catch the sweet, slightly sharply green smell. Ahh, uplifting. Dewy. Sweet. Oh my, the heliotrope and magnolia in French Lilac shine and really take this frag to the next level in being something a little more complex than a traditional lilac perfume. The lotion is soooo decadent. It makes my skin feel like I just used some very expensive product. Great ingredients. So happy to finally have this one. So lovely.

Absolutely stunning, realistic lilac fragrance. It is slightly indolic, but I really don't think anyone would notice unless you are extremely sensitive to indole (which I am, but it's really beautifully unnoticable, I think to most people). I am also of the belief that a slight amount of indole is necessary to achieve a TRUE, realistic floral. I would describe this fragrance as a beautifully blooming lilac bush, with flowers at their perfect ripeness - opening their faces to the sun, the perfect moment at which the pollen still clings to the stamen before tumbling back into the flowers to pollinate for yet another year. Beautiful. Truly the EXACT smell of my parents' lilac bushes as a child... the most perfect lilac I've ever found, totally worth every penny. Would love as a room spray, too!

(Writing this based off the hair & body mist)! This scent is just so pure and lovely. It is fresh and perfumed spring air, a soft walk through a lilac garden. It has the softest hint of nectar-like sweetness and feels like a perfect capture of a lilac flower. When first sprayed, it leaves a simple impression of lilac, but the subtle notes left behind feel so incredibly accurate and flower-like that it is impossible to resist spraying more. It also bears qualities of gentleness, shyness, and pure nature. Like I mentioned on my Tuscan Blood Orange review, Pacifica does not add alcohol to their hair & body mists, which makes the French Lilac mist the perfect candidate for perfuming your hair and adding a little bit of softness too. I love to spray this after a shower and before sleep!

I have the hair and body mist of this scent, and it's excellent--I find that it complements my "real" perfumes quite nicely and is inexpensive enough to use as a general room spray when I just want to smell lilacs. I have never tried the actual perfume version, but the mist is so good that I see no reason to have both. I really like the Pacifica scents that i have tried and might check out more of the mists, since hair is such a good conduit for scent. Update: I bought the EDP too, and it has much better throw and longevity than the body mist. I like to layer it over fading fragrances with similar notes. I put some on over the lingering base of Lalique de Lalique, which I put on earlier today. With the addition of lilacs, it smells more like Pleasures than Beautiful now.

Went to a well known organic food store, and just sniffed the atomizer. Didn't even know the name of it or anything. For some reason, I thought that it must be weak because it smelled so good, and it was a light color,... that I sprayed it twice in my hair once on my neck and once on my wrist.......Do NOT do that with this perfume!! Oh yes I smelled great. Even walking through the parking lot with a mild wind sent this fragrance reeling. Then I entered my car. I had to open the windows. I had no idea what I just sprayed on.....was it meant to be a perfume? Then when it settled, I smelled beautiful, fresh lilac. A beautiful, purple, moist, true, lilac. I love this stuff....mmmm hmmmmm...... Gotsta get it in my collection. It lasts 4+ hours, sillage is enormous.

This perfume smells EXACTLY like sniffing a fresh lilac bush. Beautiful, dead-on, flower scent that somehow smells so intoxicatingly good no matter how long you smell it. Lasts about 6 hours and pretty much smells the same the whole time. If you love the smell of real flowers but dislike the smell of "perfume" flowers this is for you, especially if you love lilac. I bought this *right* before they discontinued it, fell in love, and wore it every single day. About halfway through the bottle I declared it my signature Spring/Summer perfume and went online to buy a back-up only to find it was gone 3 I would love it if Pacifica brought this back because it is beautiful and apparently very unique from every other affordable lilac perfume I can find lol

I am very impressed with this little scent! I love everything about it...the VERY realistic lilac, the packaging, the price and longevity! One of the things I loved the most about this lilac is the heliotrope in it giving it a bit of an powdery feel and toning down any sharpness lilac can have to my nose. This is just the sweetest little purple aura...definitely my birthday scent this year... I am really impressed with the Pacifica brand...superb quality for the price;) I love that this smells like the old-fashioned country lilacs I grew up with that are so nostalgic and special to me, heady and intoxicating ...absolute aromatherapy like wistfully floating in a rowboat on a secluded pond surrounded by lilacs in the late afternoon sun...

Bless Pacifica for making a realistic lilac scent that is cheap enough I can overspray, but strong enough that I don't really need to. Yeah, it's not a single note, but the lilac dominates so much, it's deeply satisfying if you're looking for a strong true lilac scent. The other notes add to the ambiance, it's almost as if you're really smelling a lilac in the breeze with other flowers around. It's also very good for layering, I love it with Trésor, Esteé Lauder Beautiful, and Miglin Goddess. Basically any time I want an extra boost of lilac. Decent sillage and longevity for the price. This one is definitely a staple of my fragrance wardrobe, especially with how affordable and accessible it is. Love it!

When I was little, my family had a ton of lilac in the backyard, and I will never forget that perfect smell. The fresh scent of spring, of pure happiness. I try to remember it in as many ways as I can—with lilac scented candles, soaps, by walking outside in the spring, etc. but I decided recently those things simply weren’t enough. I knew I needed a perfume that smelled of those lilacs in my old backyard, something I could spray on and experience frequently throughout the day, and honestly, I believe this fragrance is the closest thing to true lilac that I’m ever going to get. That’s all I smell here—fresh, green, gorgeous lilac. So beautiful and uplifting; I don’t ever want to be without this again.

I was browsing in a health food store when I came across this. Having tried other fragrances by Pacifica, I thought I'd give it a whirl, since I tend to adore their line. I couldn't believe how true this scent was to the lilac bushes outside my home. Not at all old lady-ish. Very pure, young, fresh, a little green. Nostalgic. My daughter loves this as well and tells me that I smell beautiful. A spring scent of course, but I wear anytime of the year. Lilacs are so short lived, I'm glad I can enjoy when winter seems never ending. I spray this on and it always feels like spring is right around the corner.

I always loved the fresh lilacs blooming in the springtime in Chicago. Have been looking for a realistic lilac scent and this is it! Super realistic. At first it smells like lilacs on a humid summer day and it eventually dries down to this lovely, clean, laundry-like smell. It doesn't have great sillage or longevity on my skin but it does stick to clothing really well. It's amazing value since it's so cheap, so I spray it all over and then layer with other floral perfumes. Really love this perfume, going to become a staple. If you like lilac and gentle florals, this is definitely a safe blind buy.

This perfume is really beautiful. Although I know there are other notes in it, I really only pick up lilac. But it's a really realistic lilac. You feel like you are pressing you nose into a lilac bush in your backyard. For a totally natural perfume, it lasts a long time too - eight hours. I love that French Lilac is 100% vegan and cruelty free. When I wear this I feel very beautiful and feminine. It has moderate sillage. So, you won't bowl people over, but that's what I prefer. It's also very affordable and easily available. Great find, and I hope to try other fragrances form Pacifica soon.

This is absolutely delicious. It's sugary like white chocolate, or vanilla ice cream: not the crystallized sugar of hard candy, but something incredibly soft and pure. I love the heliotrope heart, which (maybe along with the nectarine?) creates an absolutely perfect almost-honey accord. The florals here feel fresh and natural. The sillage is good, the longevity is great, and the scent is divine the whole way through its delicious evolution. This is a favorite, and the price point is incredible. If you like florals or sweet honey notes, give this one a try.

this just sparks pure joy.. my parents had a big lilac tree, so growing up, i would sniff fresh abundant lilac every year.. so ik knew i had to get a lilac perfume and this was a cheap recommendation with good reviews.. and they didn't lie.. its very realistic. In the opening it is quite indolic, but as soon as that goes away its lilac, transporting me right back to my childhood.. beautifull.. longevity isnt great, but the price is good, so thats no problem for me... i will definately have a bottle of this on hand every spring for the upcoming years.